The present invention is directed to data terminal devices in general and more particularly to the keyboard for such terminal devices. Data terminal devices are normally designed to be operated under the widest possible business conditions without requiring any major modification to their structure. One business area that has required such a modification has been the fast food industry wherein terminal devices operating in such business environments have been subject to accidental spillage of drinks and food on the keyboard of the terminal device and thereby disabling the use of the device. In addition, menu changes occur from day to day and in some instances during the same day requiring that the classification captions on the keys of the keyboard be changed. To solve these problems, waterproof auxiliary keyboards have been constructed for use on the keyboard of the terminal device which prevents the disabling of the terminal device when such accidental spillage occurs. An example of the construction of such an auxiliary keyboard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 641,411, filed Dec. 16, 1975 in the name of W. R. Bradam and assigned to the assignee of the present application. While this type of keyboard solves the above-cited problems, its use is obviously an added expense to the overall cost of the data terminal device. It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved keyboard for a data terminal device which will operate under a variety of business environments including those where liquids and food may accidentally be spilled on the keyboard.
Another object of this invention is to provide a keyboard for a data terminal device which is capable of having the number and location of the keys that are operable be changed to accommodate different business conditions. It is a further object of this invention to provide a keyboard which is capable of having the key classification indicia changed. It is another object of this invention to provide a keyboard of a data terminal device which is low in cost and capable of being used remotely from the terminal device.